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PART II

GET YOUR FEET BACK ON THE GROUND

Jane arranged for a quiet family dinner in one of the upper rooms. She also set up an electric fan to keep the room cool. There weren't any outlets to plug it into, so she handed the plug to Thrud. The toddler's eyes sparkled and the fan immediately whirred into life.

Now, as long as she carefully watched so that Thrud didn't put the plug in her mouth, the fan would stay on.

She made a note to bring in Kelda, the goddess of ice, as soon as possible. The fan wasn't going to work for long. Thrud was at the eat-everything-that-moves stage.

Bragmir sat by the fan and immediately looked more comfortable. He took a bite of his food, but didn't chew. Instead he wrinkled his nose and looked around. Magni and Thor were both eating with enthusiasm.

"Is the food too hot?" Jane asked.

"What'd you do to it?" Bragmir said through his mouthful.

"Uh . . . it's been roasted . . . but I asked the cooks to let it cool off before they served it. Do you want something else?"

"What's roasted?"

"THRUD, NO!" Jane said, lunging for the electrical plug. Thor reached it first.

"Want!" Thrud insisted as he took it from her.

"No, no, dear heart," he said. "That is not for eating."

The fan slowed to a stop. Nari listlessly pushed his food around his plate.

"So who am I supposed to be?" Bragmir said sullenly.

"Modi Thorson, god of anger," Nari muttered.

Jane cleared her throat and composed herself. "That's the theory. Modi is my son, Magni's twin brother, who was kidnapped as a baby . . ."

Bragmir wasn't listening.

"God of what?" he asked. "Anger?"

"There are gods for all sorts of things," Magni said.

"Oh," said Bragmir, as a thousand puzzle pieces fell into place. But he chose not to say anything.

-n-n-n-n-

"Do you think it's true?" Thor asked Jane as they prepared to go to sleep. Thrud was old enough to have a room of her own, but she still slept in a cot beside the bed, and Magni's room was right next door.

"I don't know," Jane said, tucking Thrud in and kissing her lightly. "He's the right age, and he's a berserker. He could be the god of anger. I want him to be. I hope this isn't all wishful thinking."

She looked over her shoulder at Thor. "Do you? Do you hope this isn't all wishful thinking?"

He was staring at the wall. He frowned. This was the same room Modi had been stolen from. There were more guards now, and booby-traps in the walls, but it was the same room.

"Jarnsaxa said Loki brought him to her," he said in a low voice.

Jane closed her hand over the bedpost and squeezed until her knuckles were as white as paper. "Did Loki steal Modi?"

"I don't know," Thor whispered. "He could have—he was always transforming things and sneaking around. He could even hide from Heimdall."

"I'm going to kill him," Jane said between gritted teeth.

"It might not have been him." Thor's eyes narrowed. "But I wouldn't put anything past my brother."

-n-n-n-n-

One of the Asgardians could see everything. Thor had made very sure that Bragmir knew that.

There were guards outside the room, ready to rush him if he tried anything, and Thor was sleeping with his hammer by his bedside a few rooms away. And somewhere was that mysterious Asgardian who saw everything and could catch Bragmir at any time.

Bragmir couldn't sleep. He lay on the floor next to the huge bed and stared up at the dark ceiling.

It was close and stifling in here. He could only fall asleep under the sky, but he didn't dare go outside.

He could get used to the fact that he had been kidnapped. He could accept that he was now going to stay in Asgard for a short while, and that this was his decision.

What eluded him was the fact that, all his life, he had been lied to. He wasn't Jarnsaxa's son. His father hadn't died while he was a baby. Thormight be his father. Thor, king of Asgard. Or Loki. Loki was still a possibility.

"Modi Thorson," he whispered to himself, as if he might recognize the name after saying it out loud.

It didn't work.

-n-n-n-n-

"I've made a decision," Jane said the next morning at breakfast.

"Decision?" Nari repeated nervously.

"Can someone pass me some water?" asked Magni, who had just eaten a very sticky honey cake and effectively glued his hands to the tablecloth.

"We're going to take a vacation to Earth."

"Earth?" Nari echoed. "You mean Midgard?"

"Midgard!" Bragmir dropped the bowl of water he'd been handing to Magni. For the next few minutes, everyone was busy rescuing the food and getting Magni unglued.

"Balder can watch over Asgard for a few days," Thor said.

"Why Midgard?" asked Bragmir.

"It's where I was born," Jane explained.

"You're mortal?"

"I became a goddess when I married Thor. Any other questions?"

"We're not going to Darcy's house again, are we?" Magni asked warily.

"Aunt Darcy was very kind to let us stay with her last time," Jane said primly. "She was also very kind not to throw you out on your ear after you dropped Mjollnir into her collection of ceramic unicorns."

"It was heavy!" wailed Magni, who could probably have lifted a whole house full of ceramic unicorns but still hadn't mastered picking up Thor's hammer.

"You know the rule," Jane said. She glared at Thor, too. "No tests of strengths indoors."

"Start packing after breakfast," Thor said, changing the subject after his best innocent face had failed.

-n-n-n-n-

Hildy and Ull exchanged glances, took deep breaths, and reached for the doorknob of Bilskirnir. Before they could touch it, it shot open and knocked Ull down. Magni looked out.

"Oh, hi, Hildy," he said, struggling to balance a pile of large packs.

"Where are you going?"

"Mmph!" said Ull from behind the door.

"Sorry, Ull, didn't see you there. We're taking a family trip to Midgard."

"What about the frost giant?" Hildy asked.

"He's coming too."

"Is that wise?" Ull asked, standing up.

"It was Mother's idea."

"Your mother has weird ideas," Hildy said.

"Want to see us off?"

"I should really stay home—" began Hildy.

"I have to polish my armor," Ull said.

"Please?" whined Magni. He looked at them pleadingly, letting his chin tremble and his eyes widen.

They both backed away.

"We'll come!"

"Just stop making the face!"

Magni's Bambi eyes could terrify a Valkyrie into submission.

-n-n-n-n-

The Rainbow Bridge had once been longer, before it was shattered and the observatory had fallen out of Asgard. Now the shattered end had been replaced by a second observatory, a little cruder and still partially unfinished.

"Say goodbye to Uncle Balder," Jane said, holding Thrud up. Balder leaned down from his white horse to hold her for a second.

"I'll do my best to keep order here, Thor," he said, smiling.

Bragmir balanced on the edge of the Rainbow Bridge, looking down at the stars in fascination.

Hildy reached out to pull him back. "Don't do that!"

He jerked away from her. "Why not?"

"You might fall!"

"I've never fallen in my life and I'm not starting now."

"Let's go!" Jane called. Bragmir glanced after her and then followed.

Hildy followed all the way up to the door of the observatory. "Do you know when you'll be back?"

"We're only staying a few days," Jane said. Behind her, Magni waved wildly.

Hildy backed away as the observatory began to spin, faster and faster.

The Bifrost opened.